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Marv, Lavender Blue was the first song in the book that made me feel like I was "playing" the piano. The notes sounded fuller and you could really pound it out and get "into" it. I think that's when my piano shopping began too.Truth be know, I never noticed that repeat after measure eight too. LOL Keep plugging away all. Also "standing in the need of prayer" was one that I really loved.

I have asked my piano teacher for some more "challenging" pieces that aren't in the book so she gave me some. At the same time I'm still gonna go through the Alfred's book.

Bob,

That's a great song. I think I want to learn that too in the near future. =) Went to see my piano teacher over the weekend and she liked my progress. She also gave me the Hanon finger excercise booklet. Looks like fun, although I've been playing most of the stuff in there by ear since I didn't have the book before. hahah

1. In the 4th full measure on the word "prayer", be sure to hold the E for the full 3 beats. I usually tell my students to sing (or say): "standing in the need of prayer - 2 - 3" while they play that.

2. You can make the eighth notes between the E and D# a bit smoother or more legato. The most common cause of this that I've seen in my students who have played this piece is that their 3rd finger plays on the E key too low. That forces the hand to keep moving back and forth so that the 2nd finger can reach the D# each time it alternates with the E. If you play your 3rd finger higher on the skinnier part of the E key, you'll be able to get a smoother legato between that note and the D# because your hand can stay up there for the whole phrase, "Not my brother, Not my sister..."

1. In the 4th full measure on the word "prayer", be sure to hold the E for the full 3 beats. I usually tell my students to sing (or say): "standing in the need of prayer - 2 - 3" while they play that.

2. You can make the eighth notes between the E and D# a bit smoother or more legato. The most common cause of this that I've seen in my students who have played this piece is that their 3rd finger plays on the E key too low. That forces the hand to keep moving back and forth so that the 2nd finger can reach the D# each time it alternates with the E. If you play your 3rd finger higher on the skinnier part of the E key, you'll be able to get a smoother legato between that note and the D# because your hand can stay up there for the whole phrase, "Not my brother, Not my sister..."

I hope that helps. Keep up the good work! [/b]

Thanks so much for the advise Mario. I will use it. I have been a fan of your Pod-casts since I started a few months back. Loved the Coldplay riffs and watching your students do their teaching demos. I always check to see if you add new teaching segments.

i do have a question, i've been reading that alot of people using this book with teachers say that this is supplemental to other material that their teacher has given them. My teacher goes just by the book and only by the book. It's a little aggrivating sometimes b/c she has me clapping the notes and it just seems as if my 30 minutes goes by and i didn't learn much. Am i wrong to feel that way?

_________________________
"Be of love a little more careful than of anything."

I recently decided that I need to learn to play at least one musical instrument in my lifetime, so I walked into a piano store and asked for a book that can get me started. Alfred's Basic piano lessons was highly recommended and I have since then (2 weeks ago) started practising. So far I am doing good although I found out pretty quickly that I need the accompanying CD so I ordered it as well.

I just want to let you all know that reading your posts has been an inspiration for me...you are all awesome! I will keep you posted on how it goes and hopefully soon I will be able to contribute to this discussion as well.

I recently decided that I need to learn to play at least one musical instrument in my lifetime, so I walked into a piano store and asked for a book that can get me started. Alfred's Basic piano lessons was highly recommended and I have since then (2 weeks ago) started practising. So far I am doing good although I found out pretty quickly that I need the accompanying CD so I ordered it as well.

I just want to let you all know that reading your posts has been an inspiration for me...you are all awesome! I will keep you posted on how it goes and hopefully soon I will be able to contribute to this discussion as well.

Keep playin' [/b]

Welcome muziki glad you found us. There are many of songs that you will be learning in this thread, so use them to help yourself. Keep us posted and feel free to ask questions. Most importantly be patient with yourself. It takes time to progress. Some days you will get frustrated but remember with practice, you will succeed. And let the practice be fun, because practice is playing the piano...

Originally posted by pennylane: i do have a question, i've been reading that alot of people using this book with teachers say that this is supplemental to other material that their teacher has given them. My teacher goes just by the book and only by the book. It's a little aggrivating sometimes b/c she has me clapping the notes and it just seems as if my 30 minutes goes by and i didn't learn much. Am i wrong to feel that way? [/b]

Have you spoken with your teacher about what you stated above? Communication is the key. Tell the teacher what you want. Your actually in charge...

I ordered my level #1 book the other day from amazon and can't wait to start learning - I have played rythmical/chord based piano for several years but really need to boost my technique and I also really feel like getting to know the piano better even though it's not my primary instrumient. Am so glad I found this thread, since I can imagine I could end up slacking a bit on my own - so I am really looking forward to participating in this part of the forums once I get started

You might want to find other material to supplement Alfred if you already have a "chord based" piano background. Alfred is very centered on the primary chords (I - IV - V7) especially in the first book.

If you're looking to build up technique and reading, you may want to look at something like a sight-reading series.

I might recommend "Sight Reading & Rhythm Every Day" by Helen Marlais with Kevin Olson, and published by FJH. They contain sight-reading examples that aren't necessarily in a C Position, G position, or Middle C Position (since Alfred focuses on that in the first book). The Marlais book also contains more bass clef/left hand sight reading examples, and that's something that I think the Alfred Course lacks (at least in the first book). The Marlais book also contains daily rhythm exercises that you should clap or tap out. Of course, most of the material from the sigh-reading books is most effective when you do it with an instructor to give you direct feedback on where your weaknesses are.

I hope that helps.

- mario

Quote:

Originally posted by Cille: I ordered my level #1 book the other day from amazon and can't wait to start learning - I have played rythmical/chord based piano for several years but really need to boost my technique and I also really feel like getting to know the piano better even though it's not my primary instrumient. Am so glad I found this thread, since I can imagine I could end up slacking a bit on my own - so I am really looking forward to participating in this part of the forums once I get started [/b]

Actually, if you guys are interested in a little experiment, I would love to give you a few long-distance piano lessons.

I'm doing some presentations at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy on podcasting, long-distance learning, and YouTube videos.

So what I'd like to try is to teach you guys through YouTube. For example, make a video of yourselves playing a piece (i.e. Amazing Grace) and post it on YouTube. Then I would post a video response giving you feedback on certain things that you could do to improve it. And then after you've worked on those things, then you post another video response to my video. And we continue this cycle further if necessary.

If you feel a bit self-conscious about playing in front of a large internet audience on YouTube, there are ways that we can keep all these videos 'private' so that only we will be able to view them.

Let me know if you guys are interested in participating in this long-distance YouTube private lesson experiment.

My first lesson was yesterday, and I survived it relatively unscathed. To my pleasant surprise, the book the teacher is using for me is none other than Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course (Level 1)

In the short amount of time during the lesson, starting from the very beginning, I progressed up to page 12, with my only real error happening on the "repeat" marker (I accidentally went back to the beginning of the second line of the song, instead of the very beginning).

At home later that night and today I did a little skipping ahead in the book, going page by page from where I left off, making sure to practice each piece until it's error-free and played at a relatively good tempo.

It was smooth sailing until page 36, where the G and D7 chords are introduced for the right hand. While my teacher did show me proper finger and fingertip placement, I'm unable to figure out a comfortable hand position for that right hand D7 (1>F#, 4>C, 5>D) chord without using fingernails or a sore hand (or finger 2 for that F#, which isn't right).

I know I should be waiting until next Friday for my next lesson and ask my teacher then, but I'm impatient. What's the secret to playing that right hand D7 chord without getting cramps?

that sounds like fun Mario. I'm looking for a teacher right now and I'm hoping to start lessons in two weeks. I've been without lessons now for 2 weeks and I'm getting antsy.

I'm on book 2 of Alfreds and book 2 of fabers and my supplemental material is arabesque and although I was working on the first page of arabesque, I stopped completely 2 weeks ago when I had to fly to VT and get my new pup. I'm going to start that one again when I get my new teacher.

I'll talk to my husband today and teach him to video tape me or I'll see if I still own a tripod. Somewhere in the deep recesses of my closet.

_________________________
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.>>> Herman Munster

Originally posted by Perplexed: My first lesson was yesterday, and I survived it relatively unscathed.

In the short amount of time during the lesson, starting from the very beginning, I progressed up to page 12,

At home later that night and today I did a little skipping ahead in the book, going page by page from where I left off, making sure to practice each piece until it's error-free and played at a relatively good tempo.

It was smooth sailing until page 36, where the G and D7 chords are introduced for the right hand. While my teacher did show me proper finger and fingertip placement, I'm unable to figure out a comfortable hand position for that right hand D7 (1>F#, 4>C, 5>D) chord without using fingernails or a sore hand (or finger 2 for that F#, which isn't right).

I know I should be waiting until next Friday for my next lesson and ask my teacher then, but I'm impatient. What's the secret to playing that right hand D7 chord without getting cramps? [/b]

Congrats on the first lesson!

You will find that you can move fairly fast through the Alfred book up until around the 55 page mark and then things slow down. (At least for me and many others who have been using the book). In fact I probably spent 4-6 weeks on the first 55 pages and then 3-4 months on the next 40 pages. So if your pace slows down don't get discouraged, the pieces get increasingly more complex as you forge ahead. But it means you are getting better.

Since I'm not a teacher I will leave the D7 question to someone else, but maybe some hand exercises might help. Speak with your teacher.

Keep up the hard work and keep us posted. You can even record some of your pieces and upload them here...

Originally posted by Mario Ajero:Actually, if you guys are interested in a little experiment, I would love to give you a few long-distance piano lessons.

I'm doing some presentations at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy on podcasting, long-distance learning, and YouTube videos.

So what I'd like to try is to teach you guys through YouTube. For example, make a video of yourselves playing a piece (i.e. Amazing Grace) and post it on YouTube. Then I would post a video response giving you feedback on certain things that you could do to improve it. And then after you've worked on those things, then you post another video response to my video. And we continue this cycle further if necessary.

If you feel a bit self-conscious about playing in front of a large internet audience on YouTube, there are ways that we can keep all these videos 'private' so that only we will be able to view them.

Let me know if you guys are interested in participating in this long-distance YouTube private lesson experiment. [/b]

Hi Mario, I would like to try this too if you don't mind, although I am only half way thru book one. Can you explain how to keep them private? Do you have a email that we can use too?Thanks, Dale

I'm a little confused on the Alfred Adult piano lessons book #1. Is there a version with and without a cd? Or is the CD the one with Alfred's Adult piano lesson for windows? We have yet to find an instructor but are looking to supplement Alfred with one.